Fire escape

ABSTRACT

A metal structure with three rectangular walls and a rectangular floor is attached to the side of a building directly in front of a window or other means of egress. Concealed beneath the floor of the structure is a folded metal ladder. When release means are actuated either manually or automatically, the ladder unfolds, enabling a possible fire victim to escape through the window and thence down the ladder to safety.

United States Patent Breinig June 3, 1975 [54] FIRE ESCAPE 246,871 9/1881 Cwerdinski 182/81 [76] Inventor: Harry V. Breinig, 8660 Burton 380 I 968 or yce 82/19 Way, Los Angeles, Calif. 90048 Primary ExaminerReinald0 P. Machado [22] Filed: Jan. 4, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 430,894 [57] ABSTRACT A metal structure with three rectangular walls and a 52 us. or 182/78; 182/86 rectangular floor is attached to the Side of a building [51] Int. Cl. E061: 9/10 directly in from of a window or other means of egress- [58] Fi ld of S h 1 2 3, 4 35 86, 77- 1 Concealed beneath the floor of the structure is a 1 2 13 19 folded metal ladder. When release means are actuated either manually or automatically, the ladder unfolds, [56 References Ci enabling a possible fire victim to escape through the UNITED STATES PATENTS window and thence down the ladder to safety. 245,345 8/1881 Bristol 182/19 3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures 9 3 LL 8 1 7 I PATENTEDJUH 3 I975 FIG.

FIRE ESCAPE SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION My invention is directed towards a new type of fire escape suitable for use on buildings with more than one story.

Many fire escapes currently in existence are aesthetically unattractive because of the prominence of their working mechanisms. It is an object of my invention to rectify such unattractiveness by concealing the Working mechanism of the fire escape.

It is also the object of my invention to provide a fire escape module which can be used singly as in a two story building, or in a series with others of its type, as in buildings with three or more stories.

To this end, I disposed a'rectangular parallelepiped constructed from metal rods or tubes such that its longitudinal axis is parallel to the floors in a building and such that one of the larger sides of the parallelpiped is flush against the outside wall of the building, and such that the parallelepiped is directly outside a Window or other means of egress.

On the three exposed faces of the parallelepiped which are not parallel to the floors of the building I construct walls, said walls being made of metal rods or tubes welded to the parallelepiped in such a fashion that the axes of these tubes are all vertical.

Some distance above the lowest plane in the parallelepiped and parallel to it, I dispose a fixed metal floorboard with a trapdoor attached thereto, the trapdoor being pivotally attached to the floorboard by a hinge. Both the floorboard and the trapdoor are constructed of rectangular metal plates whose combined size when the trapdoor is coplanar with the floorboard being exactly the size of one of the larger faces of the parallelepiped.

Beneath this floorboard and trapdoor assembly I dispose a folded ladder comprising a plurality of sections, typically two in number, each section being itselfa ladder pivotally jointed to the sections surrounding it in such a fashion that when the ladder in its unfolded state is viewed from the side, it appears as an n-bar linkage, n being the number of sections.

To one end of the whole ladder assembly, I affix a hinge. I attach the other side of this hinge to the lowermost section of the smaller face of the parallelepiped which is not connected to the fixed floorboard in such a fashion that the axis of this hinge is perpendicular to the outside wall of the building. I then fold the sections of the ladder horizontally, one on top of the other in such a fashion that the section which is attached to the parallelepiped is lowermost, the last section in the ladder is uppermost and supports the trapdoor, and the other sections lying between these two.

To the end of the lowermost ladder section not hinged to the parallelepiped I attach manual or automatic release means. These means support the lowermost ladder section in such a fashion that when the release means are not actuated, the plane of the lowest ladder section is parallel to the floorboard, and when the means are actuated, the end of the lowermost ladder section is not connected to the parallelepiped is completely unsupported.

Thus, when the release means are actuated, gravity pulls the whole ladder section downward, causing it to rotate about its point of connection with the parallelepiped. When the whole ladder assembly has fallen to a vertical position, the rest of the ladder sections will unfold to a completely vertical plane. When this occurs, the trapdoor which has previously been supported by the uppermost ladder section is now free to fall to a vertical position parallel to that of the ladder, leaving a space in the floor of the tire escape through which potential victims can pass from the floor to the ladder.

Between the plane of the floorboard and trapdoor and the bottom of the parallelepiped, I attach three metal plates to conceal the ladder assembly.

When the user of my invention wishes to have the ladder fall automatically in the event of tire, I dispose an electrically operated temperature and smoke sensor on the inside of the house. When this sensor detects levels of smoke or heat equal to or greater than some previously determined level, an electrical signal is sent to a solenoid. The moving core of the solenoid is a horizontal member supporting the end of the lowermost ladder section not connected to the parallelepiped when no current passes through the solenoid. When a current passes through this solenoid, the core is pulled into the solenoid and pulled out from underneath the lowermost ladder section. This section is thus free to rotate about its hinged end connected to the parallelepiped, and the ladder and trapdoor fall as described above.

In the event that my invention is used on successive floors of a single building, my support means comprise a hook which supports the lowermost ladder section and mechanical linkage connected thereto, such linkage terminating at the place where the ladder from the next higher floor will fall. This linkage is so arranged that when a ladder from a higher floor hits it. the hook is released from the lowermost ladder section. Thus, in a building where a series of my inventions is used, the release of the ladder on a given floor will cause the release of ladders on all successively lower floors, enabling someone escaping from a high floor to climb all the way down to ground level.

Where a manually operable release means is desired, 1 support the lowermost ladder section with a hook and a mechanical linkage as before, but with such linkage terminating in a lever at floorboard level, disposed such that when the lever is pulled, the ladder will fall.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. I is a front view of my invention showing the position of its parts previous to and during release of the ladder;

FIG. 2 is a side view of my invention showing the ladder in its released state;

FIG. 3 is a detail view of the manual release means of my invention;

FIG. 4 is a detail view of the release means of my invention used to trigger the release of the ladder upon the release of a ladder on a higher floor;

FIG. 5 is a schematic representation of the automatic release means for my invention when such means are to be triggered by a heat or smoke sensitive device;

FIG. 6 is a top view of the invention prior to actuation of the alarm means.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 6, a support structure 1 (using metal tubes or rods welded together) which is secured to the side of a building has walls of bars 2 disposed vertically. A floorplate 3 is fixed to the support structure and carries a hinge 4. A trapdoor 5 is free to rotate about the hinge, and is supported by a ladder section 6. This ladder section is jointed by a hinge 7 to another ladder section 8, which is itself connected by a hinge 9 to the support structure. Hinge 9 and release means 10 support the ladder sections and trapdoor in parallel horizontal planes until the actuation of the release means. When the means are actuated, gravity acts on the ladder and thereby produces a torque on the ladder and resultant acceleration of the ladder about the axis of the hinge 9. As the ladder sections fall and section 6 is no longer supported by section 8, gravity produces a torque about hinge 7 and thus causes ladder section 6 to rotate thereabout. After some time, ladder sections 6 and 8 attain their equilibrium position, which is in a vertical plane. The release of section 6 leaves nothing to support the trapdoor, which rotates under the influence of gravity about hinge 4, and eventually comes to rest in a vertical plane.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a release hook 11 is pivoted about a hinge rod 12. A sliding bolt 13 constrains the hook to support the ladder hinge 7, the bolt being carried by sliding hinges 14 and constrained to remain in its leftmost position by hand lever 15. When lever 15 is manually rotated by the user about rod 16, the bolt can then be moved to the right, causing the release hook to pivot in a counter-clockwise sense. This releases the ladder mechanism.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a release hook 11 is pivoted about rod 17, and attached to pressure sensitive plate 18, seen in cross section, by means of linkage bars 19 and 20, pivoted on pivots 21, 22, 23, 24. When the ladder from a higher floor hits the pressure sensitive plate, linkage bar 20 moves downwardly and rotates in a clockwise manner, rotating linkage bar 19 in a clockwise direction and thus rotating release hook 11 in a counter-clockwise fashion, releasing ladder hinge 7, which releases the ladder mechanism.

Referring to FIG. 5, an electrically operated smoke and heat sensor is connected by cables 26 to a solenoid 27. When the level of smoke or heat exceeds some previously determined level, current flows from the sensor through the solenoid coil, drawing back the plunger 28, which normally supports ladder hinge 7. Upon the indrawing of the plunger, the ladder is left unsupported and is released.

An anchoring plate 30 can form a welded on part of the unit which will provide additional strength as a back support between the two ends. The plate can be directly secured to new construction. In old construction, the apron or trim below the window sill on the inside of the house is removed; the studs are notched in for a flush fit of the plate; the plate is installed; and the trim replaced.

If the unit is installed in an area in which it can be covered with snow and ice, lever 15 flush with the floor can be difficult to dislodge and operate. Under these conditions a handle secured to bolt 13 can be installed to extend above the floor whereby when pulled up it will slide the bolt to the right and pivot the hook counter-clockwise to release the ladder.

While I have described my invention with particular reference to the drawings, such is not to be considered as limiting its actual scope.

Having thus described this invention, what is asserted as new is:

l. A fire escape for use with a building having a window, said building comprising:

a frame having three interconnected vertical walls and a horizontal rectangular floor secured to the bottom of the walls;

means securing said frame to the outside of the building in front of the window, the non-adjacent two of said walls being separated by a space which is adjacent the window;

a trapdoor pivotally connected the floor;

a folded ladder pivotally connected to said floor and disposed below the trapdoor, the ladder being in folded sections, the topmost section supporting the door in place whereby the door falls to vertical position when the ladder unfolds, the door being spaced from the ladder to define a space through which escapees can pass from the window to the ladder; and

means to release said ladder whereby it unfolds to vertical position for use by gravity.

2. The escape of claim 1 wherein the means can be manually or automatically operated.

3. The escape of claim 2 wherein the means is automatically operated by a temperature and smoke sensor. 

1. A fire escape for use with a building having a window, said building comprising: a frame having three interconnected vertical walls and a horizontal rectangular floor secured to the bottom of the walls; means securing said frame to the outside of the building in front of the window, the non-adjacent two of said walls being separated by a space which is adjacent the window; a trapdoor pivotally connected the floor; a folded ladder pivotally connected to said floor and disposed below the trapdoor, the ladder being in folded sections, the topmost section supporting the door in place whereby the door falls to vertical position when the ladder unfolds, the door being spaced from the ladder to define a space through which escapees can pass from the window to the ladder; and means to release said ladder whereby it unfolds to vertical position for use by gravity.
 1. A fire escape for use with a building having a window, said building comprising: a frame having three interconnected vertical walls and a horizontal rectangular floor secured to the bottom of the walls; means securing said frame to the outside of the building in front of the window, the non-adjacent two of said walls being separated by a space which is adjacent the window; a trapdoor pivotally connected the floor; a folded ladder pivotally connected to said floor and disposed below the trapdoor, the ladder being in folded sections, the topmost section supporting the door in place whereby the door falls to vertical position when the ladder unfolds, the door being spaced from the ladder to define a space through which escapees can pass from the window to the ladder; and means to release said ladder whereby it unfolds to vertical position for use by gravity.
 2. The escape of claim 1 wherein the means can be manually or automatically operated. 